![]() | Feature: Physical Education
in Early Childhood | No.51 September 2007 |
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![]() ![]() Abstract
A decline in physical activity (PA) among children is a worldwide concern.
It is also of concern among preschool children. This study aimed at
determining the activity profiles of preschool children and if energy
expenditure (EE) and PA would increase after participation in a movement
program. Three to six-year-old children (N=16, 11 boys, 5 girls) with
a mean age of 4.1years form part of the study. PA was monitored over
three consecutive days and the group participated in the movement program
on day two of three days. Total energy expenditure (TEE) was monitored
using the Actical® accelerometer over the three day period (12.9
hours per day), while parents and teachers completed activity diaries
for the same period. A SAS analysis of the highest percentage of activity
occurrences and the EE of these activities, revealed high PA levels
and that outdoor play contributed to the highest percentage of daily
activities. A repeated measures ANOVA indicated tendencies of higher
TEE and percentages of activities in the vigorous zone (p>0.05) on
the day after participating in the movement program. It was concluded
that different factors such as the parents, the preschool program and
the environment influenced the physical activity levels. A structured
movement program also seemed to have an overflow effect on PA levels
and EE, especially on activities of a vigorous nature.
Key words: Energy expenditure, movement program, physical activity,
motor performance, preschool ![]() ![]() Introduction
Physical Education was omitted from the South African school curriculum
a few years ago, carrying the message that this is not an important
part of a child’s holistic development. In addition, grade R learners
(5-6 years) are more and more phased into formal school education, contributing
to a tendency towards less time being allocated to physical activity.
A similar tendency is subsequently seen in preschools where more time
is spend in formal education in an effort to get the child ready for
formal schooling. Such decisions impede on the unique, diverse and comprehensive
developmental needs of young children. Garcia, Floyd and Lawson (2002),
indicate that early childhood is a unique period of a child’s
life, as this is a time in which they develop physically, emotionally,
intellectually and socially. Physical activity, movement experiences
and exposure to structured movement development programs during this
period are therefore imperative in assisting them to develop fundamental
and perceptual motor skills and confidence. It is also a critical part
of a young child’s school readiness make up as it is linked to
positive cognitive outcomes, while also associated with health consequences
(Coe, Pivarnik, Womeck, Reeves & Malina, 2006). Thus, preschools
who value physical activity as important are therefore forced to allow
people who offer different kinds of activity programmes to fill this
need during school hours.
Sääkslahti, Numminen, Rask-Nissilä, Viikari, Tuominen
and Välimäki (1999) indicate a relationship between physical
activity patterns during weekends and fundamental motor skills of three
to four-year-old children. Pienaar and Badenhorst (2001) report higher
physical activity levels (PAL) and a broader gross motor activity profile
during participation in a structured movement program than during free
play at a pre-primary school among five-year-old children. In addition,
Dale et al. (2000) indicate higher PAL after participation in a structured
movement program than on days when no participation took place among
grade three and four learners. A study of 10-year-old school children
also revealed more activity during the day among boys who walked to
school compared to those who made use of vehicle transport (Cooper,
Page, Foster & Qahwaji, 2003), while similar results are reported
in a more resent study by Cooper, Andersen, Wedderkopp, Page and Froberg
(2005). It thus seems that participation in structured physical activity
programmes and being physically active have a positive effect on the
PAL and motor development of young children.
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE, 2002)
recommends that preschool children should participate in physical activity
for at least 120 minutes accumulated per day. They further recommend
that half of this time must be spent in structured play while the other
half must consist of free play. Research is, however, revealing that
the PAL of young children decreases progressively (Whitney & Rolfes,
2002; Pate, Pfeiffer, Trost, Ziegler & Dowda, 2004; Reilly, Jackson,
Montgomery, Kelly, Slater, Grant & Paton, 2004; Montgomery, Reilly,
Jackson, Kelly, Slater, Paton & Grant, 2004).
Although research has established that modern children show progressively
decreased levels of physical activity, limited research findings exist
regarding the physical activity levels and activity profiles of preschool
children. In addition, no studies could be traced on the post-exercise
effect of activity on the activity levels of preschool children. The
first aim of this study was to determine the activity profiles and the
intensity level of activity of three to six-year-old children and secondly,
to assess whether physical activity levels will increase after participation
in a structured movement development program. ![]() ![]() Methods
Participants
Sixteen children between the ages of three and six years (M of age = 4.1 years, range 3.6 years to 6.1 years), including 5 girls (M of age = 4.2 years) and 11 boys (M of age =4.5 years) participated in the study. The socio-economic status of the group can be considered as medium to high. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample participants. All the participants had to be enrolled in a structured movement development program (kinderkinetics program) conducted at the motor clinic at the University or at a preprimary school. Data collection
The study was conducted over three consecutive days of the week. The first day served as the control day (Day 1), as the children participated in the Kinderkinetics program on the second day (Day 2), while the third day (Day 3) was considered as the day following the structured program. Energy expenditure (EE) and physical activity levels (PAL) were determined
by means of the Actical® accelerometer. This is a small, water resistant
device (28mm x 27mm x 10mm and weighing 17.5g), with a large storing
capacity which is positioned on the right hip of a person by means of
an elastic band. The frequency, intensity and time spent on physical
activity in one plane are measured by the Actical®. It is an accurate
indicator of energy expenditure during unrestricted activities (Pfeiffer
et al., 2006; Welk et al., 2004), and Actical® readings are associated
with VO2 of three to five-year-old children when they perform structured
weight-bearing activities. The cut-off points for the different intensity
levels of the Actical® are 0.01 kcal/min/kg for light to moderate
intensities and 0.05 kcal/min/kg for moderate to vigorous intensities.
The Actical® was positioned by the researchers on the child at 07:00
every morning and removed at 20:00 every evening (which was considered
the ‘waking hours’ of the children) for three consecutive
weekdays, after which the data was stored on the Actical® software,
and analyzed by means of the Actical® software edition 2.0 (Mini
Mitter Company, Inc., 2003).
The activity profiles were recorded by means of daily activity dairies,
completed by teachers and parents. They were briefed by the researchers
on how to complete the activity diary, after which the teachers completed
an activity diary based on a broad description of activities for each
child during preschool time and the parents during home time. The activity
diary was divided into half-hour intervals from 07:00 until 20:00, and
main activities done during this period were recorded. The intensities
of all activities were consecutively recorded by the Actical®. An
activity diary divided into one-minute intervals was also completed
by the researchers to describe the activities preformed during the structured
part of the Kinderkinetics program on Day 2. The SAS computer program
was used to compile an activity profile from the activity diaries for
each day, which was arranged in mean half hours of occurrence (SAS,
1999). A repeated measure ANOVA with a Bonferonni adaptation was conducted
by means of Statistica (2006) to determine differences between the days
with regard to the time spent in different activity intensities and
EE of the activities.
The sixty minute program (consisting of 30 minutes of developmentally
appropriate movement activities called a Kinderkinetics program and
30 minutes of free play) was conducted at the perceptual-motor clinic
of the University and also at a preschool during school hours by trained
Kinderkineticists (post graduate students in Human Movement Science,
specialising in the field of motor development of children). The structured
part of the program includes activities such as fundamental skills (e.g.
running, galloping, body awareness activities (e.g. touching different
body parts), static- and dynamic balancing activities (e.g. standing
or jumping on one leg), total body, hand-eye and foot-eye coordination
activities (e.g. throwing and catching a ball), spatial orientation
activities (e.g. climbing through a tunnel), rhythm and timing activities
(e.g. marching to music, fine motor skills (e.g. playing pick-up sticks),
perceptual skills (e.g. form identification) and activities which improve
muscle tone such as standing long jump. Enrolment in this program was
compulsory and paid for. ![]() Results
Table 1 indicates the specific categories of activities included in
the Kinderkinetics program of 30 minutes, and the times spend on each
of these categories. Most of the time was spent doing fundamental movement
skills, hand-eye coordination and activities to improve spatial orientation.
Sedentary activity (waiting for a turn, resting between activities,
fine motor activities) took up 19% of the total time of the program.
Table 1 Categories of Activities and Percentage Time Spend Performing the Activities during the structured part of the Kinderkinetics Program ![]() The group wore the accelerometers for an average of 12.9 waking hours
per day over the three days. Table 2 displays the results of the activity
profiles compiled by the teachers and parents for each day, which was
arranged in mean half hours of highest percentage occurrence. Total
energy expenditure (TEE) of the activities is also expressed per half
an hour in order to analyse the energy expenditure (EE) of the different
activities. Outdoor play contributed to the largest percentage of time
of the activity profile which varied between 12.73% and 15.05% (1.38
hours to 1.56 hours) over the three days. The average EE during outdoor
play (26.91 Kcal/half an hour) was also the highest of all the activities
recorded for each day. Other activities with high EE levels that were
recorded over the 3 days, but in much smaller percentages, were indoor
play, playing at friends’ and household chores. Participation
in other activities which contributed to relatively high EE such as
free play, bicycling, climbing activities, doing animal movements, attending
parties, activity and rugby lessons, did not occur on each of the days
and also contributed to only small percentages of the daily activities
of the children.
Table 2
Activity Preferences (% time and Energy Expenditure) on Days 1-3 ![]()
Total EE= Energy expenditure in Kcal/half-hour Note –only activities contributing to more than 1% of the time are included in the table. No information= parents forgot to complete the diary/put the accelerometer back on the child The participation in the Kinderkinetics program on Day 2 contributed
to the highest EE of all the activities (30.50 Kcal/half-hour), except
for playing rugby on Day 1. Watching television took up between 6.70%
and 8.13% (between 51 minutes and 1.02 hours per day) of each day and
contributed to the lowest EE of all the activities (EE= 13.00 Kcal/half-hour).
A slight change was evident in the activity profile on Day 3. Participation
in outdoor play increased from 13% to 15% and the percentage time spent
watching television decreased compared to Days 1 and 2. The group also
spent time imitating animal movements, which was not reported during
Days 1 and 2, but which were part of the Kinderkinetics program.
Table 3 displays the different activity intensity zones, the total
hours spent in these activity zones and the EE over the three days,
as analyzed by the Actical® software, for an average of 12.9 hours.
It happened that children woke up later than 7:00 or went to sleep earlier
than 20:00 when the Actical was removed, therefore less then 13 hours
are recorded. The results indicate that the group were quite active
over the three days. They spend an average time of 2.31 hours doing
vigorous intensity activities, and 4.11 hours doing moderate intensity
activities, totalling 6.42 hours from a total of 12.9 hours doing activities
of a moderate and vigorous nature (MVPA) per day. The percentage time
spent in each of the activity zones are also indicated in the column
for the Kinderkinetics program. Approximately 75% of the program included
activities of a moderate and vigorous nature.
Table 3
Activity Intensity, Total Hours Spent and Energy Expenditure over the
Three Days ![]() KK= kinderkinetics program (sixty minutes,
structured and free play) A repeated measures ANOVA with a Bonferonni adaptation was conducted
to establish possible differences between the 3 days with regard to
the intensity of the activities and the TEE and the results are presented
in Table 4.
Table 4
Significance of Differences in Energy Expenditure and Time Spent doing
Different Intensity Activities
![]() df =degrees of freedom
The percentage time doing activities with a vigorous intensity increased
from 17.9% to 22.7% (2.12 – 2.43 hours) and TEE increased from
173.6 to 228.9 Kcal from the first to the third day, although not significantly.
Higher percentages of vigorous activity are indicated on Day 2 and 3
compared to Day 1 with the highest percentage on Day 3. Taking into
consideration that the Kinderkinetics program contributed to a substantial
percentage of activities with a vigorous nature (40.9%) and TEE of 59.5
kcal of the program time on Day 2, the percentage of activities of a
vigorous nature was still higher on Day 3. However, these changes in
percentage of vigorous activity and TEE while being vigorous were not
significant on Day 3 (p>0.05, Table 4). The highest percentage of
time was spend on moderate intensity activities, although it progressively
decreased from Day 1 to Day 3 (4.34 – 3.56 hours) and the decrease
from Day 2 to Day 3 was significant (p<0.05). The higher percentage
of time in the vigorous zone on Day 3 might have contributed to this.
Participation in light intensity activities ranged between 2.58 and
3.31 hours, while time spent doing sedentary activities took up the
smallest percentage of time. None of these percentages differed significantly
on the different days. Discussion
The activity profiles and TEE of this group of preschool children indicated
that they were highly active over the three day period. They easily
met the requirements of the NASPE (2002) guidelines for preschool children,
seeing that time spent doing MVPA ranged between 5.99 and 6.40 hours
over the three day period. It thus seems that they are sufficiently
physically active and that the parents, the preschool and the circumstances
in which they grow up might be important role players in their activity
profiles. The inclusion criteria which required participation in a Kinderkinetics
program could also have influenced the results. It seemed that the parents
were aware of the developmental and health benefits associated with
physical activity by enrolling their children into a Kinderkinetics
program which was compulsory. The role of the program followed at the
preschool and the activities offered there was also vital in fostering
an active activity profile. Research by Pate et al. (2004) indicates,
in this regard, that preschool policies and practices have an important
influence on the overall activity levels of the children they serve.
The results of this study are therefore contradictory to the studies
of Reilly et al. (2004) and Montgomery et al. (2004), who found very
small percentages of MVPA in their groups of Scottish preschool children,
and agree to a certain extent with the perceptions among parents and
health professionals that young children are spontaneously active (Reilly
et al., 2004). The inclusion criteria of our study, and the fact that
overweight and obese children form a big part of their study groups,
made direct comparison between the studies difficult. Pate et al. (2004)
indicate that the American preschool children in their study spent 1
hour in 8 hours in the vigorous activity zone while attending preschools.
Although their study was only focussed on the time attending a preschool,
activity spend doing vigorous activities compared reasonable with the
average of 2.30 hours that our group was vigorous, although over a 12
hour period and which included preschool and home time. In comparison
to the reported waking hours in the above studies, our children were
also monitored over a longer waking period per day, from which it can
be derived that they may have longer waking hours, and thus have more
time to be active. Our study also included fewer girls than boys and
they were also slightly younger than the boys. Findings reported on
gender differences in PA among preschool children indicate that boys
are more active than girls and also that older boys are more active
than younger ones (Reilly et al., 2004; Montgomery et al., 2004). This
might have contributed to the high percentage of moderate and vigorous
activity found in our group. Recorded activities such as rugby and playing
with toy cars are normally considered boyish activities and also contributed
to from the highest energy expenditures reported in our study.
The activity profile of the group shows that outdoor play took up the
largest percentage of their time and that such activities contributed
to high EE. This is in agreement with the conclusion of Pate et al.
(2004) that the time children are allowed to play freely in settings
that are conducive to physical activity such as outdoor playgrounds,
exerts a strong influence on physical activity. They report the findings
of Mackenzie which indicated that children engaged in MVPA for 40% of
the time they spend in outdoor recess, compared to the 13% in their
study observed for the entire school day. The high TEE during the Kinderkinetics
program further highlighted the importance of such structured activity
programs in improving the activity levels of young children, especially
in environments which are not conducive to physical activity. It is
also evident from the compiled activity profiles that a big percentage
of the children’s time was taken up by activities out of their
control, such as travelling with their parents and meal times (which
took up the second and third highest percentages of their time), and
helping their caregiver’s with house chores. On Day 3 the percentage
time spent travelling was much less compared to on the other days, while
the percentage time playing indoors increased substantially, again indicating
how the program of the caregiver might have influenced the child’s
activities. From this it can be concluded that the program of the primary
caregiver has an important influence on the activities of young children,
as they are in need of constant supervision, therefore the child’s
activities are arranged around the activities of the caregiver. In addition,
the parent is also the one who decides on the extra activities the child
can engage in such as rugby, swimming and Kinderkinetics lessons, which
adds to the activity profiles of this group. Watching television contributed
to the lowest EE during the different days but took up only an hour
a day. This rather limited time spent watching TV might also be under
the control of the parent. It can be concluded from these activity profiles
that the parents might acknowledge the importance of motor development
programs and are aware of the health benefits of an active lifestyle
for their children.
The second aim was to determine if participation in the Kinderkinetics
program would increase PAL after participation in the program. The EE
and the percentage time spent on physical activities with a vigorous
intensity were the highest on Day 3, although this increase was not
significant. It must, however, be taken into account that the PAL were
already high to begin with, and to show a further significant increase
might have been difficult to achieve. However, the higher percentage
of vigorous activities seen on Day 3 might have been influenced by the
Kinderkinetics program they participated in on Day 2, as 40.9% of this
program was based on activities with a vigorous intensity, therefore
making a substantial contribution to the TEE on Day 2, in comparison
to Day 1 where only 17% of the time were spend doing vigorous activity.
The results are thus in agreement with researchers (Cooper et al., 2003;
Cooper et al., 2005; Dale et al., 2000), who indicated that high PA
levels may foster high PAL later.
It can thus be concluded that this group of preschool children were
sufficiently active to derive health benefits, regardless of participation
in the Kinderkinetics program, but that participation in this program
showed tendencies of a shift towards further increases in activities
of a vigorous nature. They also tend to experiment with the activities
included in the program which had a positive benefit, not only on increased
energy expenditure but also improved motor development.
The findings should however be viewed taking the limitations of the
study into account. The small sample size and specific inclusion criteria
limit the generalizing of findings. Waking up and going to sleep routines
were irregular, parents and teachers sometimes forgot to complete the
activity diary or to put the accelerometer back on the child, contributing
to inconsistent start and end measurements and incomplete activity profiles.
Such problems should be addressed in future studies, while parents should
also be interviewed to establish their attitudes towards health-related
issues, as it was concluded that the parents’ attitude towards
a healthy lifestyle might have influenced the high activity levels found
in this study. In spite of these shortcomings, this study brought forth
important findings in terms of the physical activity preferences and
energy expenditure of activities preschool children engage in on a daily
basis in a South African context. It also highlighted the factors that
might influence the physical activity levels of preschool children and
the possible contribution of structured movement programs in the improvement
of activity profiles. More studies are recommended to further explore
these findings.
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Prof. Anita Pienaar
School of Biokinetics, Recreation and Sport Science North-West University South Africa Email: anita.pienaar@nwu.ac.za Christal Stadler & Ankia Oosthuizen Post graduate students School of Biokinetics, Recreation and Sport Science North-West University South Africa ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 |